Annie's Games - The 70th Games
by hanschens
Summary: This is Annie's Games from Finnick's POV, as he is the District Four mentor.
1. Chapter 1 - The Unavoidable

Hello, I hoping I can make this into chapters, but I've never really written something like that before. I'm sorry it's a little rough. All reviews would be appreciated. Since I haven't written fanfiction much before and everything please feel free to offer advice and comment on anything you see fit to. Thank you!

The air had a certain heaviness to it as every resident in District Four made their way to the town square. Finnick Odair walked to the front where the crowd was forming. His eyes quickly scanned the crowd of teenagers filing into their designated areas. The roped off section seventeen year old girls was still pretty empty, so by he slowly inched his way closer. If he stood by the entrance, there would be no chance that he could miss Annie arriving. Earlier this morning he had stopped by her house only to find it empty. There were several places he could have looked for her, but it would have been wasting time. Finnick knew she had to show up to the district square sooner or later – it was illegal to skip the reaping.

Reaping days were always difficult to get through with Annie, more so now that Finnick had won the games five years ago. It was because of that fact that the games became more realistic for her. Before that had happened only people that it seemed she didn't know had been reaped. But when it was Finnick, the games suddenly became real for her. She was a mess when he had come back, and since then he had tried to fix it. Things had gotten easier over the years, but she was still an anxious mess on reaping days. For some reason, she still seemed to think he was going to be sent back in the games, even though he was a victor now and his name wasn't entered.

It was only a few minutes until Finnick saw Annie finally emerging from the crowd and headed towards her roped off section. Her long brown hair bounced around in the ponytail she had put it in as she walked over to him. They would only have time to talk for a minute because the reaping was about to start. "You look lovely." Finnick whispered as she ran into his arms. Normally she would giggled at a comment like that, but she was in no laughing mood today. Finnick let go and smiled down at her. She was wearing a light pink dress that Finnick had bought her last year when she was worried about reaping day. Today he'd brought her something else. He reached into the left pocket of his khaki shorts and pulled out a small blue flower.

"Here's for good luck," he said as he pushed the few wild ends of her hair away from her face and slid the flower above her ear. "There is no chance I will be picked." The reminder had always seemed to help. Finnick never bothered to remind her that she wouldn't be picked either because that was something she wasn't afraid of – she was more afraid of losing him. Finnick never worried about it though because he knew that there was no chance of her being picked because of his arrangement with President Snow.

"_Fine. I'll do it, but on one condition."_

"_Name your price." The president almost seemed amused by Finnick's request._

"_Her name never goes in again."_

_There was a long silence that unearthed Finnick's confidence. And then, "Honor our agreement."_

Annie Cresta's name had not been entered into the reaping balls for the last four years, and never would be again. Finnick had made sure of that. "I'll see you soon," he kissed her gently on the forehead, "we can have a picnic on the beach tonight like you've been wanting." Annie finally cracked a smile and then wandered into the roped off area for girls her age. Finnick nodded a silent goodbye to Annie and then climbed the four steps onto the stage. As a mentor, he had to attend all Hunger Games Events; as the capitol favourite, it was never given a choice. Within five minutes, the Anthem started playing. It was time to honor this year's tributes.

"Thank you, thank you!" Elize Treaton, the district's escort, waltzed on stage waving his hand wildly. "Thank you so much for being here on reaping day where will choose, perhaps, this year's victor from the crowd." As if anyone in the audience at all had had a choice about attending. "But before we begin, here are a few words from the mayor of District Four."

It was at this point in the reaping that Finnick usually zoned out. His eyes fell upon a few small boys in the fourteen year old area. Just five years ago he had been them and now it was his job as a mentor to try to make sure at least one of them survived. Finnick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of rope. There was no need to start thinking about all of the horrible things now. Instead, he began to tie small knots into the rope to occupy his mind. He heard the mayor mention his name and he paused for a moment from tying knots to wave at the crowd. And then Elize's voice: "Okay! It's time to select our District Four tributes for the seventieth Hunger Games." Finnick slipped the piece of rope back into his pocket and once again focused his attention on Elize.

The escort's pink tinted skin reflected the sun in a way that made him seem like he was glowing. And when he stepped up to the girl's glass ball, Finnick could see the man's reflection was almost alien. Elize reached a hand into the ball and moved it around inside. It was a moment before the pink fingers finally found a slip of paper and pulled it out.

"Oh, lovely." It was the only remark he made. "Annie Cresta."


	2. Chapter 2 - Two Words

**Wow! Thank you so much for all the wonderful reviews. Here is chapter two! I'm just getting used to the character personalities right now, but I have a lot of ideas for upcoming chapters. Mags currently still has her ability to speak normally and everything (we'll find out what actually happened to her later in the story), and yup! Any other comments or reviews would be much appreciated. It might be a couple of days before I write the next chapter but stay tuned!** -

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Finnick Odair's entire world came crashing down from the weight the two words he loved most in the world. He felt like a child again, learning that his parents were never coming back from the Capitol. But no, this was worse. Worse than being abandoned. Worse than being reaped and fighting in the games himself. The boy had found something that mattered. Two beautiful words that were all his own and no one was able to take them from him. "Annie Cresta!" Eliza called her name again.

No. No. He was wrong; he had to be lying about the name on the slip. It wasn't right. It couldn't be right. Finnick's eyes met her and he almost wished they hadn't. Her hand reached up and brushed the blue flower in her hair. She was scared, her eyes pleading with him to fix it. But he couldn't. There was nothing he could do. A peacekeeper came up and grabbed her by the arm. The uniformed soldier began to drag her towards the stage since she refused to move. Finnick jolted up from his seat, but was stopped by a small hand. He looked down at Mags. "No."

"Mags! It's Annie."

"No." Her voice was firm.

Finnick sunk back into his seat and buried his head in his hands. Elize was excitedly announcing Annie's luck. "You are close to Finnick, are you not? How exciting will it be to finally get to work with him?" The boy let the pink man's voice become a whisper in the background. This was his fault. But how had President Snow known? He had been so sure, so careful. It had been the only time he's broken the contract, but it was months ago. Why now? Finnick had thought they were safe. Why now? He felt a small amount of pressure on his fist and found Mags' hands squeezing his own. The tension in his body released and he realized he had been digging his nails into the palm of his hand.

The entire district was clapping and he noticed a boy standing next to Annie. The kid was built well and looked like he had trained for the games. District Four was what Panem considered a career district, but the residents weren't as eager to volunteer as Districts One and Two. People in District Four trained because they stood a better chance having trained if they were reaped. The only reason kids were able to train was because they were better off than the other districts, but not so well off as to fall for the Capitol's lure of everlasting riches and good intentions.

Peacekeepers turned and escorted Annie and the boy into the justice building. Finnick wasn't able to catch her eye and let her know it would be all right. The tributes would have one hour to say goodbyes to those who came to see them. During that time, mentors where not allowed in. But Finnick knew only too well that no one would be in to say Annie. They had only each other to miss.

Residents slowly started to trickle out of the district square. The boy mentor watched as several of them patted each other on the back in congratulations for not ring reaped. Parents hugged their children, women exchanged looks of relief, and Finnick felt as though he could throw up at any moment. He watched as Elize signaled for the cameras to stop recording and then waltzed over to where he and Mags were sitting. "Oh, this year is going to be fun. We are going have to really up our game since one of the tribute is a friend of our glorious Capitol favorite!" The man looked at Finnick in pride. "District Four is really going to get attention this year!" Mags put her hand on Finnick's knee. He understood that she was asking him not to lash out. Instead, she was the one that spoke up. "Right you are, Elize. It's going to take some top notch planning. Why don't you call the stylists and see if they've got any ideas?"

Elize's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly before scurrying away. Almost everyone had left the district square by then. Mags stood up first and motioned for Finnick to follow. He obliged and fell in step behind her as they headed towards Victor Village where they both lived. He wanted nothing more than to run to Annie and hold her in his arms. Surely she was a mess right now, but there was nothing he could do for at least another hour. They were both silent the entire walk there. Mags staying quiet perhaps out of respect for him. And Finnick thinking of nothing but Annie, trying to fill his mind with everything about her. They wouldn't be having a picnic on the beach that night.

He followed Mags into her house and sat down at the kitchen table when she directed him to. "I'm going to make us something to eat. Why don't you take out your rope?" Finnick nodded and reached into his pocket. Mags set to work, pulling things out the fridge and lighting the stove. Everything in the world became quiet and still except for the rhythm of his work. Loop. Wrap. Pull. Double loop. Pull. Knot after knot after knot, every combination that he knew. Mags was the one who had given him the rope years ago when she was his mentor. He had been a nervous wreck going into the games but Mags learned that he was good at knots, so she had devised the rope method to keep his mind occupied. "Eat." The words brought him back to reality: this year's games, Annie, Mags cooking. He looked down. The smell of salmon and potatoes wafted into his nose. Mags had always been such a good cook. She had practically raised Finnick after his games were over and she had helped him through all the aftermaths of winning a game.

"Mags..."

"Look at me, Finnick." He did. "We are going to do everything we can for Annie. I need you to trust me. She has a better chance than you did, because she has you on her team now too. We'll keep her safe, dear. Now eat." Finnick nodded and picked up his fork with new found determination. There were two words that were his, and no one was going to take them from him. Annie Cresta: these would be her games.


End file.
